Main menu

Post navigation

Historical Kunming Part 3: Chinese dynasties

So… my intent for this week’s post on the history of Kunming was to talk about the dawn of Kunming: the start of its transformation from one of a group of Bronze Age villages on the shores of Lake Dian into a genuine city, the capital of a rebel general cut off from his homeland.

But as I got deeper and deeper into this story, it became more and more clear that I was telling a story with no anchors, cast adrift in a series of names and places, kingdoms and dynasties, that would mean nothing to someone who had not already studied at least some Chinese history. So before I tell the story of the dawn of Kunming, I would like to give you the basic framework by which the Chinese themselves account their history: the tale of dynasties.

But before simply listing them out, it is worth asking: what exactly makes a dynasty anyway. Unlike periods of British or Egyptian history (amongst others) that use the same term, a Chinese dynasty does not imply rule by a single family of rulers. Instead, it is related to a uniquely Chinese concept: 天命 (Tiānmìng), referred to in English as The Mandate of Heaven. So what exactly is The Mandate of Heaven? How does it work?

When we are taught western history, we learn that the medieval basis for royal legitimacy was founded on a notion called the Divine Right of Kings. This asserts that a monarch is subject to no earthly authority, deriving his right to rule directly from the will of God. The king is thus not subject to the will of his people, the aristocracy, or any other estate of the realm. Over time, and influenced by the downfall of a number of tyrants in bloody civil wars, a new basis for legitimacy emerged in the west: the consent of the governed. (Most notably espoused by John Locke in his Two Treatises of Government).

The Mandate of Heaven is far older than either of the western bases for political legitimacy, and incorporates elements of both. Similar to the Divine Right of Kings, the Mandate of Heaven asserts that heaven (天 – Tiān) blesses the authority of a just ruler, and gives to him the authority to govern. But in other ways, the Mandate of Heaven more closely resembles Locke: If a ruler becomes despotic or tyrannical, Heaven withdraws its mandate and that ruler is overthrown. Therefore, the successful overthrow of a ruler is viewed as an indication that the ruler has lost the Mandate of Heaven, and provides a ready (if post-hoc) justification for people to rise up against a ruler who treats his subjects poorly.

A Chinese dynasty, then, is a period of time in which the Mandate of Heaven was successfully held by a single group, clan, or in two cases, foreign powers. I have made below a list of the generally acknowledged ones, with one key disclaimer: The changeover from one dynasty to another was never a planned, orderly thing, and usually happened over a period of several years or even decades. Thus, you are guaranteed to find disagreement about almost every one of the dates I give here. I make no claim that the ones I give here are authoritative or even a prevailing view, but they do give a good basic idea of when these things happened.

So with no further ado, here for your reference is a mildly annotated list of the main Chinese dynasties. As the purpose of this timeline is to give context rather than comprehensive taxonomy, there are other smaller dynasties between these that I have omitted.

Despite being short (only 2 rulers), the Qin dynasty had a profound impact on Chinese history. The Qin is the first Imperial dynasty; its founder Qin Shihuang was the first emperor of China, and also started the building of the Great Wall.

Another period of civil war between dynasties. The great Chinese literary classic, The Three Kingdoms, was written about this period. Due to the pervasive influence of this Ming-era romantic novel, there are many books, movies, poems, and other works of art set during this period.

China was conquered by Kublai Khan, a grandson of Genghis Khan. But despite their military prowess, the Mongolians were largely assimilated by Chinese culture and civilization. Marco Polo’s sojourn in China happens during this time.

Chu Yuan-chang removed the Mongols from the throne, undertook great infrastructure projects, and started projecting Chinese power abroad. The Great Wall reached its current form, and the Treasure Fleet made contact with European colonial powers.

Ming generals invite the Manchurians into China to help end a civil war; after doing so, they take China for themselves and rule for almost 300 years. But as with the Mongols, the Manchurians quickly assimilated Chinese culture, and the basic form of local government and civil service was as in earlier dynasties.

2 thoughts on “Historical Kunming Part 3: Chinese dynasties”

I see you don’t use the power of social websites like
twitter and facebook on your blog. You can get huge traffic from social sites on autopilot using
one useful app, for more info search in google for:
Alufi’s Social Automation